W. Fencing faces early test at Princeton

It's been said that in order to find out how good one is, one has to face the best. The Penn women's fencing team gets to do just that Sunday in a tough quad-meet at Princeton, N.J. This quad-meet is one of the season's most difficult for the team. It is the first time in many years Penn is having a multiteam meet before the beginning of the second semester. It begins with a match against Princeton, which counts toward Ivy League standings, at 11 a.m. Penn then squares off against Rutgers at 1 p.m. and North Carolina at 3 p.m. The 1997 team is relatively experienced, returning 10 fencers from last year's 7-6 team. In 1996, they were able to defeat Princeton, 21-11, and North Carolina, 17-15, in dual meets before falling to Rutgers in the season finale, 18-14. This year, these three opponents are significantly improved, while the Red and Blue are hampered by the graduation of captain Elisabeth Cornfield. "Princeton worries me, Rutgers worries me, and North Carolina is always very athletic," Quakers coach Dave Micahnik said. "If we come out with a 2-1 record, I would consider it to be a positive meet." Princeton has several strong epee fencers. Led by Caitlin Rich, who went 29-1 last year, and supported by two freshmen, Matilda Acerra and Kristiina Hurme, the Tigers should give the Quakers trouble in this event. "We have a decent shot in our first match of the day because we usually start strong," said Penn captain Olivia Leon, an epee fencer. Rutgers, on the other hand, brings back a strong foil team. Senior captain Adrienne Hancock placed sixth in foil competition at the Penn State Open in November. On Sunday, the Quaker epee team, which has been stronger than its foil over the past few years, could end up being the deciding factor. "All the teams have eight strong fencers," Penn junior epee Meredith Galto said. "Princeton epee has three nationally ranked fencers. We should be warmed up to do well in our second match against Rutgers." North Carolina could be a troubling team, according to Micahnik. "They all usually fence in a pattern? almost a coach's system," Micahnik said. "So if one gets to you, chances are they probably all will." But, stressed the coach, "Each match will be close, and winnable." It should help that several members of this year's team went to one of two regularly scheduled individual tournaments earlier in the fall. At the Penn State Open, held November 15-16, Leon placed sixth in the epee, and was followed closely by senior Emmy Cho, who placed 14th in that event. Galto, senior foil Cindy Kwan and sophomore foil Amy Hozer also participated in this meet. "We're at an iffy stage right now, but we're definitely coming along." Kwan said. Each of Penn's four foil and epee fencers will face four opponents in a five-touch bout. This means that there are 16 winnable points in both foil and epee against all three of the other schools. All 13 fencers on Penn's roster will attend the meet, and there may be some lineup substitutions for the eight "starters" depending upon how the matches are going.

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